


ghosted.

by Spotlighted



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-04-06 09:17:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19059697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spotlighted/pseuds/Spotlighted
Summary: Leo knew he would die someday, but not while scavenging for metal.





	ghosted.

Leo knew he would die someday, but not while scavenging for metal.

The irony of the situation was the fact that he wasn’t killed by a monster (the downfall of most demigods), rather a turbulent, raging river with jagged rocks that tore at his flesh and the mere force of the river dragging him him toward the bottom, flailing desperately.

While Leo tried and failed to find remains of Hephaestus’s work in the forest (thanks, Hazel), the rest of the crew divided and conquered the town in their romantic pairings to figure out what the hell was up. They all assumed Leo needed materials for repairs, which he did, but it was also for Festus, whose head creaked in joy when he saw the careful assembling of his body.

He should’ve been grateful for Poseidon, who killed him as soon as his blood polluted the water and sparing him from enduring the entirety of suffocation. (Or, it was perhaps the knife in his pocket, always there for emergencies, and in this case, it was.) However, he didn’t think prayers were necessitated due to the fact that he was dead.

Leo frowned down at the blood blossoming from his body, coloring the river for a split second before it was gone, barely a red tinge left to it. His body disappeared too, someplace else where Leo couldn't stare and hope it was all a dream.

You’re early.

The sentence spoke wasn’t out loud or in his head— mere words forming together to fabricate meaning that Leo didn’t do.

Choose one.

And just like that, two doors seemingly connected to nothing apparead. One obsidian black with scorching heat emanating from it, the other pure white with unbearable cold seeping through him when he got close.

As Leo looked around the doors, trying to find some trick to the puzzle, he saw another, an oak door with a brass handle directly behind his position when they appeared.

Leo opened the door and walked in without hesitation, leaving the forest of nothing.

The other side abandoned the vibrant extremes the forest held, all piercing sounds and rough edges. It became tangible nothingness, white and black at the same time but not quite grey or white or black.

As Leo walked (the only thing possible, it seemed), his footsteps created colors, muted blues and dirty greens, bright reds and neon pinks. They helped to distinguish ground from, well, whatever else.

As he walked, he noticed more footsteps. He almost thought there was another person, but it fit the exact size of his shoe and holy shit, he’s been walking in a circle.

Leo tried to lift his foot, with a notable problem: it was stuck. Not sure what to do (and panicking), he pulled and pushed and sat and did nothing.

And then the floor fell.

It reminding Leo of how Annabeth and Percy described falling into Tartarus (the only thing they would discuss), pure dread and stomachs dropping due to anticipation of the bad and simply because of the fall, and sometimes determination to fucking live out of pure spite for the gods and their creations.

He chose the former.

Looking around (and down, down at the endless pit swallowing him whole and never really finishing), Leo hurled himself into a wall to make it stop because he wasn’t into limbo and would much rather go anywhere else.

He, most obviously, didn’t think he’d end up inside the rocks.

The metamorphic rocks told Leo he’d been falling for a considerable time, and fuck you, school. That really shouldn’t have been the first thing his frantic mind settled for, but the next was much more pressing, and he almost commended himself for it.

The most reasonable thing to do was to use pure willpower to unfuck everything. A beat of silence in Leo’s head, and he shot up with improbable, never achieved speeds. Take that, Jason.

Once appearing on the surface (the nothing town matched the nothing forest, unassuming concrete and streets and houses), Leo noticed he was almost flying, hovering above the ground. He looked down and saw Percy walking by, fack blank and probably angsting, as survivors did.

“Holy shit!” He dropped so fast it almost became limbo again, and he shuddered at the thought. Percy shook violently, as if suddenly cold, walking away. 

Leo’s feet were, again, a few inches under. He tried stepping on the ground, like one would a stair., and it stayed. He tried with the second, which stayed as well. His form became tangible, less haunting ghost.

He took a shaky breath and ran.

**Author's Note:**

> to an anniversary of writing and fanfiction. god, this fic was so old


End file.
